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History of Humanity
Terra – The Homeworld The Fall of the United States- ''The birthplace of humanity, Terra, remains the galactic political center even as humanity scatters to the stars. Though a political center, Terra is just reaching stability. A series of events starting with the collapse of the U.N. in 2204 have led to the formation of several super powers vying for power across the continents of Old Earth. In 2199, the former United States began threatening nuclear attacks against United Korea, who had issued formal declarations of war in 2199. In 2204, Russia, Germany and England secede from the U.N. in disgust with the lack of action taken by the U.N. to nullify the nuclear threat to Asian soil. Shortly after, those three nations began the formation of the Grand European Union with the rest of the nations in the Eurozone. Though the threat of retribution from the Grand European Union was a far more real threat than a warning from the U.N., a series of ICBM attacks from America to Korean soil annihilated the better half of the eastern Korean peninsula on February 18th, 2205. In mere hours, American military bases across the globe came under attack from Grand Army forces. In a matter of weeks, Grand Army boots were entrenched on American beaches. Crumbling under political pressure and military assault, the entirety of the remaining United States nuclear weapons payload was fired at various targets across the globe in a final act of brute military force. Fortunately, most of the ICBMs were shot down by Union anti-missile laser batteries before they hit their targets. By the end of 2205, the Grand Army took control of Washington D.C. In 2208, the North American Disbandment Treaty was finalized with the agreement of the current president and the Union leaders, which forced the former United States into two separated states, Eastern and Western United States, to break up their political and economic weight. ''The Rise of the Grand European Union- Though the Grand European Union was initially intended as a means to stop the former U.S. from executing any large military action, in the decades after the American War the grand European Union began forcefully expanding their borders. Standing as the only military super power on the planet, there wasn’t anything standing in their way. The Eastern United States quickly allied itself with the GEU, solidifying control of the Northern Atlantic Trade routes. In response to the imminent threat of invasion from the West, China, India and Japan along with the remnants of United Korea formed the Great Asian Alliance in 2252. The U.N. had long since become a politically inactive collective, so the GEU’s invasion of Africa in 2261 had little to no military opposition. Hardly a secret, the populations of Africa and the southern European states began to be utilized in minimal-pay high-intensity factory work, to keep the ever-burgeoning European war machine well fed. The Race to Mars- 2263 saw the formation of the Australio-Pacifica Engineering Coalition, comprised of scientists and engineers from around the Pacific coming together in an attempt to expand the human sphere of influence beyond Earth. And in 2268, the Coalition unveiled an extremely efficient vacuum cooled plasma core engine. The first transports with the plasma core engines embarked on a pioneering mission to the surface of Mars by 2270. With a trip time of between a few weeks and a month and the large hangar capacities of the plasma core ships, multinational work could quickly begin on both a Martian space station and a Terran space port on the Moon to facilitate faster transport turnaround times. Work on both facilities was completed by 2291, and ushered in a century of research in how to best utilize the newfound plasma core technology and the vast expanse of opportunities the Red Planet offered humanity. As with most technologies, the plasma core system was quick to be shifted to weapons technology. Again, the A-PEC led the way. New firearms, Pulse Plasma weapons, began to be manufactured, plasma powered armor suits, named Mobile Suits, first saw the light of day as military weapons and industrial tools. In 2375, an unprecedented breakthrough was announced, the Habitat Barrier System. Mars – The Red Planet Colonization- The installation of the Habitat Barrier System on Mars allowed for a permanent settlement to be made. Named New Babylon, located in the Valles Marineris on the Martian surface, the city was officially founded in 2408 and consisted of an area roughly the size of Europe protected by an energy field from the harsh Martian environment. During this time, two galactic shipping companies, Babylon Shipping and New Kingdom Cruisers hauled natural resources to and from Mars and colonists to New Babylon. A fully capable and stable city by 2500, New Babylon held just under 2 billion residents from hundreds of cultural backgrounds. The Terran World Organization, a group of individuals from each major political player, called for a world meeting concerning the needed expansion of New Babylon’s borders citing overcrowding and poor living conditions. The Grand European Union pushed for expansion, eager to extend the borders of the city and found the first Martian factories. The Australio-Pacifica Coalition, now a geo-political alliance instead of an intellectual one, urged caution due to the immense risk of the failure of the barrier system. Delegates from the Great Asian Alliance sided with the GEU, having been limited to a very small section of New Babylon, Great Asian Alliance politicians wanted to get their share of the Red Planet. During the barrier expansion talks, the Chinese Uprising had begun in full as Chinese political leaders and rebel groups vied for control of the GAA. The Free Mars Movement- While big wigs on Terra contemplated solutions to the issues of overcrowding, political activists on the surface of Mars began to stir up sentiments that if Mars was considered it’s own political entity, they would be better off. The Free Mars Movement members called out that Terran rulers could not know the problems of Martian citizens. Lacking any other recourse, members of the Free Mars Movement began terrorist attacks against GEU and A-PC embassies in New Babylon. Lacking a dedicated police force, soldiers of the Grand Army and Coalition forces began to make arrests on citizens whom they believed to be part of the terrorist group. Riots broke out across the streets of New Babylon, with Free Mars skull emblem banners raised high. In late 2502, construction of the Barrier Expansion project began amid the constant cries of dissidents. Mars – Lost Babylon The Habitat Barrier Collapse- On January 28th (Terran standard time), 2503 a section of the barrier, NB-North 48-68, came under attack from terrorist forces under their leader, Brother Shen. Before any Terran military forces could reach the site, members of the Free Mars Movement set off hundreds of detonations across NB-North, shutting down several Habitat Barrier pylons. The disabling of those pylons weakened the structure of the entire Habitat barrier system, causing a massive collapse. The energy field encasing New Babylon in a protective bubble ripped itself apart and exposed the entirety of the city to the harsh Martian atmosphere. In minutes, 2 billion souls were lost. Search and rescue missions were active for months, with little results. Barrier Memorial Day is observed universally on January 28th, and serves a sobering reminder of the repercussions of overstepping our boundaries as a race. New Icarus – The Second Step to the Stars The Age of War- A decade after the Barrier Collapse, the members of the Grand European Union, subjected to torturous labor factories, revolted en masse. This was the beginning of the European Civil War. Caught between renewed border expansions and an internal conflict, GEU forces and foreign policies bogged down, closing off the entire area of the European Union away from the rest of the world. With Asia and Europe embroiled in internal conflict, the Australio-Pacifica Coalition was left to its scientific devices. Determined to rectify their perceived failure in the Habitat Barrier System, Pacific scientists began development on the process of terraforming. By making the planetary body entirely similar to an Earth atmosphere, there would be no chance of a similar incident to the Barrier Collapse. The constant warfare went unbroken for almost a century and a half. The Formation of Ganymede- Unbeknownst to the other political forces at play on Terra, Australio-Pacifica vessels began to make trips to Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter. After hours of study, the decision was made to attempt the first terraforming on that moon, most other celestial bodies were considered unfeasible, due to galactic position or lack of a protective magnetosphere. The option of Mars was brought to the table, but was quickly set aside, due to the importance of secrecy and the common notion that Mars was a cursed planet. After creation of the Daedalus space station in 2653, positioned in close orbit of the planets surface, Operation Icarus started in full. A-PC terraformation missiles began to blanket the planet in a highly classified chemical compound, breaking apart the frozen ice packs and the surface of the planet itself. Considered the most successfully concealed operation of all time, the terraforming of Ganymede had begun. The Year of Freedom- In 2645, the Tzar of the Grand European Union decided to pull troops back from the stagnated frontlines. Though never officially declared, Grand Army troops never returned to the battlefield. Shortly after, a new government became recognized by the Terran World Organization, the New Carthage Confederation. Consisting of the European countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, all African nations, and the Middle East, the New Carthage Confederation maintained the massive workforce that used to serve the Grand Army. Vowing to be a nation for the people, their leader, General Titus Lepidus forged a structure of military government that, while disallowing for any gain in economic class, always promised freedom and a voice in the government. ''The End of the Great Asian War ''- During the winter of 2688, the 176 year long struggle for power in Asia came to a close with the leader of the Chinese Uprising publically declaring that it was far more important for the collective of Asians to be players on the political landscape than to continue the fight to decide which race should rule over the others, conceding the conflict. Japan, under Tennō Kennosuke Yamamoto, agreed with the sentiment and declared that China would always have a strong voice in their new government in the form of a publically elected Viceroy. By 2700, an official constitution had been drafted and signed by the leaders of all the Asian countries. China, India, Korea and Mongolia would all have a Viceroy representing their interests in the new Nippon Empire. In 2764, the Australio-Pacifica Coalition announced New Icarus, along with universally accessible reports showing the progress of the terraforming. The location itself was kept secret, to prevent immediate action from the other factions on Terra. A meeting of the Terran World Organization along with the leaders of the current factions gathered on the neutral lunar space port for a six month long discussion concerning the new habitable sphere. After the conference, it was decided unanimously that the state of New Icarus would be a “Pax Partes”, a state of peace between the factions. Any military action on the surface of New Icarus would be considered an affront to humanity everywhere, and a military force that would be charged with keeping order had to be formed. Named GHOST, the multinational paramilitary would act as both the police force of New Icarus and a response force in the event of factional warfare. In 2769, the first galactic capable ships set course for Ganymede and humanity’s new frontier. It is now 2801, 42 years after the pioneering fleets landed on the soil of New Icarus. There are four different major cities on New Icarus; Neo-Sydney, New Moskva, Yamataikoku, and New Rome. Political discontent is as palpable as ever, but so far the Pax Partes doctrine has held true and no large scale warfare has broken out on the surface of New Icarus. Though a new terrorist sect, the Free Systems Alliance, has risen it seems as if they too remember the horrifying tragedy that befell New Babylon. Attacks made by the FSA tend to be specifically targeted at corrupt politicians or business officers, so they don’t pose a threat to the general populace. It is a time of tenuous peace and most are simply appreciative that the new planet isn’t embroiled in constant war. But others claim that things may not be as they seem, mountains are being moved below the surface of Ganymede, and soon enough someone will rise and attempt to seize control of New Icarus…